The last few years, search engines such as Google, Bing, and even Apple, have been upgrading their algorithms and machine learning processes to account for the end-user's experience. But, since their algorithms are built upon the work completed by automated crawling bots (pieces of software that manually scour the internet), it has always been difficult for them to truly simulate the actions of a flesh and blood user. And it's not feasible for them to create an algorithm that's based on the anecdotal feedback of an army of individual users that submit their findings.

Instead the search engines have started to write logic that, to their best estimation, is what a user experience should be on a website. Some of the criteria they are now measuring are site speed, mobile optimization, site structure, content, and dozens of other signals that should give the algorithm an idea of whether or not search engine users are getting what they expect from a website.

Related: Top 7 Things You Don't Know About SEO

So, what does this mean for companies, marketers, and website owners when it comes to their SEO?

Basically what I, and dozens of other SEO industry experts, have been writing about for years has now come to fruition. We've exited the era of search engine optimization (SEO), and have now entered the new age of search experience optimization (also... SEO).

And this is great news for anyone that performs digital marketing correctly. It means that "gaming" the system has become less and less viable, and that groups who rely on black hat techniques are seeing their efforts become less effective.

So, how should websites be optimized for the search engines now that user experience plays such a big role?

Ask questions, provide answers.

Previously, marketers used to obsess over ideas like keyword density, meta descriptions, and link profiles. They had everything down to percentages and numbers and it all made sense when it was placed into an excel sheet. But how on earth was a website that was built from data on an excel sheet supposed to appeal to a human being?

That's the problem the search engines set out to fix. And you need to accommodate the changes they've made.

Related: Here's What Really Matters for SEO in 2016

Specifically, you need to think about your website visitors at every stage of your web design and marketing process. And this can be done easily with a series of question and answer audits you can ask yourself as you're creating your marketing campaign.

For instance, if you're designing a web page and you're wondering how to make it appear in the Google search results, you should start by asking what your customers are typing into the search engine. This sounds rudimentary, but think it through for a moment. Previously marketers would optimize for terms such as "snow tires" or "weight loss products". But search habits have become more semantic and people are no longer typing in general terms, but rather they're asking questions.

Thus, the search term "snow tires" has evolved into, "what are the best snow tires for a 2008 Ford F150?"

And it's the companies that are answering the questions for their customers that are starting to win in the search engine rankings. So, stop fretting over how many times you mention the keyword in the content you're writing on the page, and instead start asking yourself what your customers need help with.

Embrace mobile.

If you've been living under a rock for the last 10 years, you may be shocked to hear that most people use smart phones and that smart phone searches now account for a more search volume than desktop searches. However, if you've been living in the world with the rest of us, this isn't too surprising. So, if everyone is using mobile devices to browse the web, shouldn't you likewise be optimizing your site for mobile traffic?

Last year, Google made waves in the SEO community by releasing a major algorithm update that specifically improved the search engine visibility of mobile optimized sites over their less optimized competitors. It was lovingly termed " mobilegeddon" by marketers. And while it wasn't the end of the world, it did cause quite a stir with digital marketers.

Across the board, mobilegeddon caused the search results to shuffle about and it didn't just impact small businesses. In fact, over 40% of Fortune 500 websites weren't mobile optimized at the time of the update. Which is staggering when you think that this all just happened less than a year ago. So, some major brands took hits to their online presence.

Related: SEO Is So Hard That Even Google Needs Help With It

And what this taught everyone, painfully in some cases, was that we needed to start prioritizing the needs of mobile internet users. You see, mobile users don't have the same bandwidth as desktop users. They have data limits and often the speed of their internet is much lower than a desktop computer. So, if they're trying to interact with a page that has a lot of data and animations to load, it's going to take forever for them to actually see something on their mobile device. Which, as we've been discussing, is not ideal for user experience.

So, instead of building a website that is dramatic from a visual standpoint, but requires the equivalent effort of a million hamsters running on wheels to power up a switchboard to manage all of the data and bytes your site is throwing at the visitor, you should probably go with a more "minimalist" approach.

I recently sat down with Mitul Gandhi, an SEO expert and the co-founder of SEOClarity, a next-generation enterprise-level SEO platform.

"The search engines are no longer kidding around when it comes to mobile optimization," says Mitul. "Google has released AMP Pages, their tool to allow web designers to quickly optimize their pages for mobile devices, and Apple is building their entire algorithm based on the actions of mobile users, based on their massive mobile phone market share."

As Mitul mentioned, Google has recently released a product called AMP pages, which stands for accelerated mobile pages. This product is a great solution for website owners and marketers that don't have web design degrees but understand they need to make significant changes to their website in order to accommodate mobile users.

Pay Attention To Your User Experience Metrics

Once you've optimized your website content and the mobile experience, the next steps are heavily data driven. You should now begin understanding what is happening when visitors are coming to your site and how they are interacting with it. To do this, you can utilize robust tools like the one Mitul's group offers, or for those that don't have the budget, you can analyze your Google Analytics data, which is free to use.

What you'll want to look for are signals that tell you if you're providing a positive user experience past mobile speed and onsite content. To do this, look at metrics like time on site, bounce rate, pages per visit, return visitor rates, and conversions. This data will give you insights as to whether your visitors are enjoying themselves once they are browsing your site. Once you identify problem pages or sections, work on optimizing those through A/B testing.

The reason you want to do this is the search engines are now leveraging the data that is mined from people using their internet browsers. Wait... Google, Bing, and Apple are tracking what you're doing on your browser? Um, yes. Why else would they sink millions of dollars into a piece of software they give away for free. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge (previously Internet Explorer), and Apple Safari are all spying on you and reporting data points back to their creators.

Now, I can't pretend to know whether they're using this data for nefarious reasons (I can almost bet they are), but we do know that they use this data to understand whether users are having a positive user experience on a website. And the metrics I just told you to measure, are the same ones these browsers are reporting back to the search engines.

Don't Forget Social Media

Finally, you'll want to ensure that you are not just giving lip service to the idea of social media. Regardless of how dry and boring your industry is, you need to be engaging on social media. We have dozens of B2B clients in some pretty dull industries that still actively participate on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

And they're not using us because they think they're going to get a bunch of customers from Facebook. But they understand that the search engines are taking major cues from social media signals as to whether a site offers a positive user experience or not.

After all, if you enjoy something online, what do you usually do? You talk about it. And where do a lot of people talk about things? On social media. So, it's only logical that if you're trying to measure whether a site is providing a great user experience, that there would also be a social footprint signaling this.

So, make sure that you're sending links back to pages on your site when you are posting on social media. And don't just link back to your homepage, but link to product pages, your seo optimisation company information page, and your location pages. These are all places that should be getting signals from the social networks.

And this is also why you should be blogging, as I've talked about ad nauseam in previous articles. Not only do blogs provide great content to your visitors (read: user experience) they also encourage social media sharing and interaction, which leads to social signals, which is what I've been talking about for the last few paragraphs!

So, if you've been wondering how to get your website to rank well in the search engines and have been wondering what the secret sauce is, you can forget about some mystical equation that perfectly balances links, keyword density, and unicorn dust. It doesn't exist. And that's a good thing. Because search experience optimization is a seo search engine optimization much more common sense endeavor and anyone can figure it out with a little bit of time and effort.

Due to the economical strength of the US Dollar, many Americans are seriously considering buying property overseas. However, this is easier said than done. You need to be aware of the rules and regulations, so that this...

Tenants in Common Vs. Joint Tenancy

Examining the merits and demerits of tenants in common and joint tenancy is a must for any aspiring homeowner or individual who intends to share ownership of any piece of real estate. While both the terms may seem similar at the...

How to Buy Commercial Property With No Money Down

Buying real estate with no money down is a reality and many people are already doing it. Seller financing, rural development plans, and veteran affair loans can come to your rescue if you haven't saved enough to make the initial...

Best Real Estate Investments for 2012

An explanation to the common real estate investment trends, current status of the mortgage industry and the economics of the current property market, which would affect your investment decisions and the market value of the property...

Investing in Real Estate for Retirement

Buying real estate for retirement is currently the most preferred way of investing money. It is true that investing in real estate does require lots of liquid cash, but the returns are also much better than any other investment.

Investing in Commercial Property

Buying commercial property as an investment can be a daunting task for the beginner, with several pitfalls. To enable a smart investment choice, some useful tips have been shared in this article.

How to Start Investing in Real Estate

Real estate investments can be extremely profitable in the long run. This article will serve as the perfect guide for beginners on how to start investing in real estate.

Real Estate Vs. Stock Market Investing

A dilemma that troubles several of us who wish to invest, is the choice between real estate or stock market. A very logical and rational explanation to this dilemma may help you make an intelligent choice.

Property Investment For Beginners

If you are sitting on a pile of savings and searching for investment options with high returns, real estate investment is worth considering. This article is a short guide to property investment for beginners.

Land Investment Advice

Land, real estate and property markets have been favorite investment avenues of investors since ages, yet these areas have become increasingly difficult to invest in. But that doesn't mean anybody wishing to invest should not, or...

Adverse Possession

Adverse possession is a rule which grants ownership of a piece of land to a person who has possessed it for real estate companies list a specific time period. In this article, we'll discuss this concept in detail.

Tips For Buying a Commercial Property

Buying a commercial property is generally a heavy investment, that needs an adequate amount of thought. In here, we provide some tips, that will help you make a smart purchase.

Real Estate Investing Business Plan

If you wish to become a real estate giant, you must know how to prepare a business plan for investing in it. This will help you to achieve success within the stipulated time.

Tenancy by the Entirety

A type of concurrent estate, tenancy by the entirety is meant for married couples. Go through this article for a brief overview about this legal concept.

How Does a Special Warranty Deed Work

Of the many types of deeds for the transfer of property, we have the special warranty deed. It is a rather precarious aspect where the buyer is not as protected as in a general warranty. Here are some basic facts about this legal...

What are Deed Restrictions?

Deed restrictions are one of the most important documents that are to be obtained before purchasing property or land.

Gift Deed

A gift deed is one of the documents necessary to transfer the possession of some thing from one person to another, without consideration. View all the legal issues surrounding this type of deed.

Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship

As joint tenancy continues to become an increasingly apartments and houses for rent popular arrangement for ownership of property, information on joint tenants with right of survivorship is what a lot of people are looking for. In this article, we present how to...

Joint Tenants in Common

Though both are types of concurrent ownership of property, a joint tenants in common is different from a joint tenancy. This article provides a brief overview about this legal concept.

Joint Ownership of Property

There are different ways in which a person can own a specific property. Joint ownership is one such way, wherein more than one person or entity holds the house or piece of real estate. There are different types too, and the...

Tenants in Common Agreement

A tenancy in common is an agreement used to establish the rights of two or more people for the property owned by them in common. Read the following article to understand this concept in detail.

Tips to Buy No Money Down Properties

No money down means, to buy at minimum possible down payment. There are a few tips that can help you buy a real estate property with no cash down payment. Read on to know more.

Real Estate Investing Tips

If you are planning to be a real estate investor then here are some real estate investing tips for you. Read them and start gaining the required knowledge to earn those smart bucks.

Land Buying Tips

A land investment may turn out to be your best or worst life decision. This article provides some essential advice regarding this type of real estate investment.

How to Invest in Real Estate

With the bust in the housing sector and all the foreclosures, real estate investment might just be the best place to bank your money! Let's look at ways to invest in this domain.

How Does a Land Contract Work

Land contract is one of the best ways to have a piece of land to fulfill your dream of having a house. It is beneficial to both the buyer and the seller of the respective land.

How to Buy Investment Property?

Buying investment property requires a good plan in the mind of the investor, before he starts looking out for some professional help. Read the following article to find out some important aspects to consider for the same.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)

A real estate investment trust (REIT) provides an opportunity for the public to buy into real estate without the liquidity constraints. Read through the article to know more about this type of investment.

Tips on When to Buy a Property

What is the perfect time to buy a property? It is a question which everyone of us faces, when buying property, after the initial 'how' is taken care of, that is, when you have money to buy one. Here are some tips that may help you.